Ikea GORM boards [AKA, help me sort out my pedalboard real estate]

Drew_TNBD

Okay. Show 'em...

Basically I just got a Voodoo Labs PP2, and I want a tidy board. But fuck paying for a Pedaltrain. The only thing that puts me off doing a GORM jobby is not having a case to put it in.

thecolourbox

They didn't have them in stock when I fancied making one, like every other time I've been there they were about as helpful as a saucepan without a handle when I asked when they'd be back in stock. The ones online look good though don't they, just not sure the money saving is worth the stress of having to go to ikea...

AlanP

thecolourbox said:

They didn't have them in stock when I fancied making one, like every other time I've been there they were about as helpful as a saucepan without a handle when I asked when they'd be back in stock. 

They were GORMless then?

(I'll get my coat.)

guitarfishbay

Have you worked out how much a flight case will cost you, assuming you definitely want a flight case?

You might be better off getting a s/h pedal train with flight case depending on that.  I've seen some PT2 HCs going for around the £100 mark if they'd be big enough, though not sure how often they crop up as I'm not keeping tabs on that.

EricTheWeary

There's another recent similar discussion. I know I was one of the ones saying this but pretty overwhelmingly the advice is to get a suitable case sorted first. You might have something lying around or access to something cheap but suitable. But if not then you might not end up with a significant saving over just buying something ready made ( although it wont come with the satisfaction of a DIY job or the cheap hot dogs from Ikea).

Bidley

I built a Gorm board, and it was cool for a while, but eventually I realised it wasn't fit for purpose, and the time and effort needed to bring it up to scratch was outweighed by buying a Pedaltrain.

not_the_dj

It wasn't an GORM shelf, but my first pedalboard was made from offcuts of MDF I got from the local hardware shop. I made it a two level thing with the PSU and wires tied in underneath, all fitted in a silver tool case I got from Maplins:

http://imageshack.com/a/img691/7053/nww7.jpg

 http://imageshack.com/a/img39/7403/g0dg.jpg

 

guitarfishbay

Bidley said:

I built a Gorm board, and it was cool for a while, but eventually I realised it wasn't fit for purpose, and the time and effort needed to bring it up to scratch was outweighed by buying a Pedaltrain.

But that is Drew's 'thing'! )

Not ripping too hard man I do the same thing all the time and I understand it and the cycle of it, having been through it myself several times with cabs, amps, and guitars.  But sometimes it is just cheaper in the long term (if you include the value of your time and sanity, as well as resale value of the equipment) to just buy the actual thing you want first time round.

SimonC

I recently built a board using one of these as a starting point:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Home-Range-PRIME-Rectangular-Duckboard/dp/B007C2QYH2/ref=pd_bxgy_kh_text_y

Only paid about a fiver from a local home bargains type shop, and it seems a hell of a lot sturdier than the Ikea Gorm thingy.

Drew_TNBD

guitarfishbay;161604" said:

But that is Drew's 'thing'! )

Not ripping too hard man I do the same thing all the time and I understand it and the cycle of it, having been through it myself several times with cabs, amps, and guitars.  But sometimes it is just cheaper in the long term (if you include the value of your time and sanity, as well as resale value of the equipment) to just buy the actual thing you want first time round.

Motherfuck.... )

the_jaffa

Not Gorm stuff but I built this recently just using some stripwood from B&Q:

I was able to put braces exactly where I wanted them (ie under the wah) and with careful working out I can route all of the patch cables and power leads underneath and nice and neatly.

I have now ordered one of these to house it in:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sealey-Aluminium-Tool-Case-Heavy-Duty-AP610-/380667514764?pt=UK_Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item58a18d4f8c

I'll have to trim off the clear excess from the RHS to make it fit the case but should go in fine and even leave room for leads.

Total cost is well under £50.  Have to see how it pans out in use.

daveyh

Son has a Gorm board for home, did a nice stripey everton mint paint job on it. Good fun. Suits home/practice/studio/static purpose well.

No way would I ever use one live though.

Drew_TNBD

It definitely needs to be portable, for gigs and such. I have a Diago now, but I am constantly running into issues with the lip around the bottom section of the case, preventing me from putting my pedals how I would truly like. So basically I should just grow a pair and get a bloody Pedaltrain. Blergh...

This is what I have so far:


I have a smaller tap tempo switch incoming to replace the FS5U - couldn't be arsed to build one - and I'd be willing to lose the Boo 808 clone, and I'd be willing to go back to a Polytune Mini, if it would reduce the length requirement. This board above is a tight squeeze into 32in x 15in ... which is bigger than my Diago Showman.

Ideally I'd go smaller than that too, which is totally possible *if* I don't mount the amp footswitch into the box. But that does mean carrying around an extra bag with me; not so bad I suppose. Probably a good idea to continue to do that for spare cables and things anyway.

So if I did that, I think I'd be able to get the rest of the pedals onto a Pedaltrain 2, with some room to add one more pedal, which I may as well do since I will have a spare output on the Voodoo PP2 )

I do also have the option of getting a small 4 button midi control to control the amp, which would possibly reduce the length requirement somewhat too. But at that point, it becomes the actual pedals themselves as opposed to the controller which defines the length, and as you can see, there really isn't much in it. I don't want 3 rows to step over, two is my limit.

So I could do a combination of things. Get a Pedaltrain 2, whack my pedals on it (and figure out what to put in the gap!) and also get a smaller midi controller to act as my amp controller, thus reducing my overall floor space needs, tidying my cables up, and actually on smaller stages I'd be able to put the amp controller to my left side, hadn't thought about that before.

*sigh*

Diezel amp is still f00kin brilliant though

guitarfishbay

What are the dimensions for the footswitch?  It might fit in the PT2 hard case anyway (off the board) since there is extra space after putting the board in.

I'll take you a picture of mine tonight to show you what I mean.

This site is pretty cool for designing layouts http://pedalboardplanner.com/

Drew_TNBD

Aye, I'm on that site right now! It's looking like without the amp controller, I could even get all my pedals onto a Pedaltrain 1 and still have room for one more pedal!

Can't remember the dimensions for the footswitch off the top of my head.

With the PT1 and PT2, it has round holes at the back. Does that make putting an IEC cable into your power supply tricky??

Drew_TNBD

Hmmm... so the Diago Showman that I currently have is 110mm tall externally (approx) and the Pedaltrain hardcase is 203mm tall. That's a pretty sizable difference, and might cause our drummer to have a stroke when he has to change the way we pack our gear in the boot of his car!
)

Gah... maybe I should go with the softcase version...

guitarfishbay

Yeah it is quite tall but you can fit a lot in the case along with the board so it depends if that will compensate for the extra space needed.

I use a PP2+ and do not find it any trouble to fit the power cable.  I'll take a picture to show that too.

Drew_TNBD

Cool, cheers guv!

Heartfeltdawn

Look!

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p137/thesilentdawn/PedalboardMarch2012.jpg

Heartfeltdawn

Portable? Yes. Sturdy? Yes. Worried about it getting wet if you take it to car and back? Simple: get a decent fitting zip=up bag of the type used to suits. 

I bought two Gorms. One is pictured above, the other was a second pedalboard. Since selling those pedals, I now rest the desktop PC case on it. Keeps it off the floor and allows me to slide it back and forth with ease when installing upgrades to the computer. 

Bidley

You could leave your wah/volume pedals off the board too